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A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States

Background: Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that presents public health risks through fish consumption. A major source of uncertainty in evaluating harmful exposure is inadequate knowledge of Hg concentrations in commercially important seafood. Objectives: We examined patterns, variability, and knowle...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Karimi, Roxanne, Fitzgerald, Timothy P., Fisher, Nicholas S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3556626/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22732656
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205122
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author Karimi, Roxanne
Fitzgerald, Timothy P.
Fisher, Nicholas S.
author_facet Karimi, Roxanne
Fitzgerald, Timothy P.
Fisher, Nicholas S.
author_sort Karimi, Roxanne
collection PubMed
description Background: Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that presents public health risks through fish consumption. A major source of uncertainty in evaluating harmful exposure is inadequate knowledge of Hg concentrations in commercially important seafood. Objectives: We examined patterns, variability, and knowledge gaps of Hg in common commercial seafood items in the United States and compared seafood Hg concentrations from our database to those used for exposure estimates and consumption advice. Methods: We developed a database of Hg concentrations in fish and shellfish common to the U.S. market by aggregating available data from government monitoring programs and the scientific literature. We calculated a grand mean for individual seafood items, based on reported means from individual studies, weighted by sample size. We also compared database results to those of federal programs and human health criteria [U.S. Food and Drug Administration Hg Monitoring Program (FDA-MP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)]. Results: Mean Hg concentrations for each seafood item were highly variable among studies, spanning 0.3–2.4 orders of magnitude. Farmed fish generally had lower grand mean Hg concentrations than their wild counterparts, with wild seafood having 2- to12-fold higher concentrations, depending on the seafood item. However, farmed fish are relatively understudied, as are specific seafood items and seafood imports from Asia and South America. Finally, we found large discrepancies between mean Hg concentrations estimated from our database and FDA-MP estimates for most seafood items examined. Conclusions: The high variability in Hg in common seafood items has considerable ramifications for public health and the formulation of consumption guidelines. Exposure and risk analyses derived from smaller data sets do not reflect our collective, available information on seafood Hg concentrations.
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spelling pubmed-35566262013-01-30 A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States Karimi, Roxanne Fitzgerald, Timothy P. Fisher, Nicholas S. Environ Health Perspect Review Background: Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that presents public health risks through fish consumption. A major source of uncertainty in evaluating harmful exposure is inadequate knowledge of Hg concentrations in commercially important seafood. Objectives: We examined patterns, variability, and knowledge gaps of Hg in common commercial seafood items in the United States and compared seafood Hg concentrations from our database to those used for exposure estimates and consumption advice. Methods: We developed a database of Hg concentrations in fish and shellfish common to the U.S. market by aggregating available data from government monitoring programs and the scientific literature. We calculated a grand mean for individual seafood items, based on reported means from individual studies, weighted by sample size. We also compared database results to those of federal programs and human health criteria [U.S. Food and Drug Administration Hg Monitoring Program (FDA-MP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)]. Results: Mean Hg concentrations for each seafood item were highly variable among studies, spanning 0.3–2.4 orders of magnitude. Farmed fish generally had lower grand mean Hg concentrations than their wild counterparts, with wild seafood having 2- to12-fold higher concentrations, depending on the seafood item. However, farmed fish are relatively understudied, as are specific seafood items and seafood imports from Asia and South America. Finally, we found large discrepancies between mean Hg concentrations estimated from our database and FDA-MP estimates for most seafood items examined. Conclusions: The high variability in Hg in common seafood items has considerable ramifications for public health and the formulation of consumption guidelines. Exposure and risk analyses derived from smaller data sets do not reflect our collective, available information on seafood Hg concentrations. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2012-06-25 2012-11 /pmc/articles/PMC3556626/ /pubmed/22732656 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205122 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, ?Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives?); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
spellingShingle Review
Karimi, Roxanne
Fitzgerald, Timothy P.
Fisher, Nicholas S.
A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States
title A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States
title_full A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States
title_fullStr A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States
title_full_unstemmed A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States
title_short A Quantitative Synthesis of Mercury in Commercial Seafood and Implications for Exposure in the United States
title_sort quantitative synthesis of mercury in commercial seafood and implications for exposure in the united states
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3556626/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22732656
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205122
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